Elric of Melniboné is a fictional character created by Michael Moorcock.

Elric is an introspective, haunted and treacherous anti-hero. A remarkably vivid iconic figure and a direct antithesis of Robert E. Howard's Conan, while strongly influenced by the character of Monsieur Zenith created by pulp author Anthony Skene and Kullervo from the Finnish epic Kalevala. Moorcock's character of Elric is a doomed hero based heavily upon Scandinavian mythology, a person whose actions lead to ruin, and ultimately death.

Instead of a mighty thewed barbarian warrior who fights his way from obscurity to achieve fame and power, Elric is a frail, sickly albino, a highly educated and cultured emperor who abandons his throne. Whereas the conventional fantasy hero rescues fair maidens from evil wizards, and defends his country from invaders, Elric (inadvertently) slays his true love, is himself a powerful wizard, in league with the Chaos lord Arioch, and leads a successful invasion against his homeland of Melniboné. He is a complex character, prone to self-loathing, brooding and despair, compelled to adventure by his own dark fate rather than a desire for riches or glory.

His official name is Elric VIII, the 428th Emperor Melniboné, a servant of the Lords of Chaos. Unlike his fellow Melnibonéans, who are decadent and cruel, mostly devoid of sentiment and the gentler passions, Elric is plagued by his conscience, has modern sensibilities and is very curious of the outside world. Melnibonéans are somewhat like elves---but more like the amoral Ska in Jack Vance's Lyonesse books than J. R. R. Tolkien's majestic peoples---and "Elric" is a form of the Norse Ælfric which means elf ruler.

Elric is the tool of his evil, sentient sword Stormbringer, which is itself a parody of the normal sword-and-sorcery hero's weapon. In Stormbringer, the sickly Elric finds the energy he needs, but at a terrible price – Stormbringer feeds on the souls of those it slays and gives part of their life force to sustain Elric. Stormbringer is willful, and by no means under Elric's control:

This sword here at my side…

Keeps calling me its master, but I feel like its slave

―"Black Blade" by Blue Öyster Cult

As an embodiment of the Eternal Champion, which mainly takes the form of a champion of law, Elric of Melniboné is torn between his ancestory and his destiny. As a result, while the saga progresses Elric’s allegiance turns from Chaos towards Law. He eventually comes to represent a balance between these forces as he develops a hatred for all gods, both of Law and Chaos, for their manipulation of mortals. At the end, Elric's hopes for a world without gods to make a misery of human lives results in his death while attempting to bring such a world into being.

Contents

1 Characters 2 Books 3 Music 4 Adaptations 5 References to Elric

Characters

Mabelrode is a fictional demon portrayed as a Lord of Chaos in the Elric saga written by Michael Moorcock. In the novels, Mabelrode was described as being "faceless", and as the "King of Swords".

Arioch, Lord of the Seven Darks: One of the mightiest Dukes of Hell and a Chaos Lord. He is the perennial patron of the Melniboné emperors and is responsible for much of their sorcerous powers and long rule. He finds Elric to be one of his sweetest servants, as Elric's moral dilemmas provide him with much sport. However as the series progresses, Elric becomes more bane than boon.

Cymoril: Elric's cousin and consort. He hopes to one day make her empress. She above all tries to understand and help Elric, but like the Melniboné subjects he rules, she too has difficulty in understanding Elric's motivations and would have him rule as the emperors of old with no concern for any but himself.

Dyvim Tvar: Lord of the Dragon Caves. He is Elric's main ally and advisor. A true Melniboné, he lends no weight to any thought of deposing Elric, as it is the emperors prerogative to act and do as he pleases. His main responsibility and personal love is the care of Melniboné's most destructive weapon, the dragons. It was on the backs of these beasts that Melniboné attained and maintained her empire and they are the most feared and respected weapons on earth.

Jagreen Lern: The Theocrat of Pan Tang. He is the leader and mighty sorcerer of Pan Tang and is chosen by Chaos to lead their armies in conquering Elric's plane. He is ultimately given all of the Chaos Lords' powers in his fight against Elric and the minions of Law and Balance.

King Grome: King of the earth elementals. He is very selfish with both his aid and what he considers his ship. He was also a co-producer of "The Ship which Sails over Land and Sea", and is responsible for the magics that allow the ship to move over land as if it were in water. He viciously disputes King Straasha over ownership of the ship and has vowed to take possession of it, if it ever were to be used in his realm of the land.

King Lasshaar: King of the air elimentals. He rules the wind giants and can summon up great storms. He is able to aid Elric in his final revenge on a troublesome sorcerer.

King Straasha: King of the sea elementals and bound by age old pacts of service to the Emperors of Melniboné. His aid is sought and given on several occasions to Elric. He is also the co-producer of one the most legendary of artifacts, "The Ship which Sails over Land and Sea". He provided the necessary magics for ocean travel and along with King Grome owns the ship.

Moonglum of Elwher: Adventuring companion to Elric. He and Elric share many dangers and rewards together. The most steadfast and loyal companion of all the Young Kingdom humans Elric encounters. His final deed allows Elric to complete his fated purpose.

Myshella, The Dark Lady: A great sorceress. She fulfills the task set to her by the Lords of Law, which is to tend the Castle Kaneloon as its mistress. She must also find heroes strong enough to withstand the forces of Chaos and thus create new lands on Elric's plane. She plays a part in several of Elric's adventures using her mighty sorcery and mechanical flying steed.

Queen Yishana: Ruler of Jharkor. She presents Elric with several problems/adventures and openly covets his company and power. Her selfish desires are the root of several of Elric's problems but she also has been known to aid him from time to time, and becomes an important ally to help defeat chaos.

Rackhir The Red Archer: One of the Warrior Priests of Phum. He was cast out of his order for disagreeing with their patron, Duke Arioch. He and Elric travel and adventure together several times throughout the series.

Sepiriz: Captain of the Fates. He and his nine brothers are representatives of Fate and are tasked with bringing about the will of the Fates in preparation for the end of an age.

Terarn Gashtek, Flame Bringer: An eastern barbarian ruler. His sudden attack upon the west from across the Weeping Wastes takes them completely by surprise. He vows to rule the whole world but ends up settling for far less.

Theleb K'aarna: A human sorcerer of the Pan Tang isles. After being displaced as queen Yishana's advisor and chief sorcerer by Elric, he seeks revenge and uses sorcery to hinder several of Elric's plans. However, in the end he reaps the whirlwind of Elric's wrath.

Yyrkoon: Prince of the realm and Elric's cousin. He is next in line for the throne as Elric has no male heir. He is greatly concerned at Elric's behavior and takes all of Elric's brooding and philosophical talk as a sign of weakness. He yearns for a return to more traditional emperors and secretly plots Elric's demise. Yyrkoon is considered a great sorcerer and has made many pacts with the unholy to obtain his sorcerous strength. As further evidence of his decadent ways, he openly covets his sister Cymoril to be his wife, and Empress, if his plans for Elric ever reach fruition.

Zarozinia: A human of the Young Kingdoms. She falls in love with Elric and for a time allows him to experience true love and companionship. Elric also gives up his blade Stormbringer and reverts to taking sorceress herbs to sustain his life, all for the sake of his love of Zarozinia.

Books

Elric's saga is told over many books, which are, according to their internal chronology:

• Elric of Melniboné (novel)
• The Fortress of the Pearl (novel)
• The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (collection)
• The Weird of the White Wolf (collection)
• The Vanishing Tower (a.k.a. The Sleeping Sorceress) (novel)
• The Revenge of the Rose (novel)
• The Bane of the Black Sword (collection)
• Stormbringer (collection)

Stormbringer, the first-written volume of the sequence, also terminates it, closing Elric's angst-ridden life as well; all subsequent volumes are prequels or interjections. Most of Moorcock's twentieth-century Elric stories are gathered together in two definitive omnibus editions first published in the UK by Millennium within its The Tale of the Eternal Champion series (and later in the US by White Wolf):

• Elric of Melniboné (1993; vt Elric: Song of the Black Sword 1997 US);
• Stormbringer (1993; vt Elric: The Stealer of Souls 1998 US).

White Wolf published an anthology of new Elric stories, Michael Moorcock’s Elric: Tales of the White Wolf, ed. Edward E. Kramer, in the US in 1994, and an anthology of new Eternal Champion stories, Pawns of Chaos: Tales of the Eternal Champion, ed. Edward E. Kramer, which includes four new Elric stories, in the US in 1996.

Apart from contributing an Elric story to the first of these two anthologies, Moorcock completed a new Elric trilogy in 2004:

• The Dreamthief's Daughter (2001) - ISBN 0446611204
• The Skrayling Tree (2003) (previously announced as [The] Silverskin) - ISBN 0446613401
• The White Wolf's Son (2005) (previously announced as Mournblade and Swordsman of Mirenburg) - ISBN 0446577022

Music

• The British rock band Hawkwind detailed Elric's story on their album Chronicle of the Black Sword (1985)

• The rock song Black Blade on Blue Öyster Cult's album Cultosaurus Erectus (1980) was co-written by Moorcock, using Elric's point-of-view

Adaptations

Elric and Stormbringer have been detailed in a role-playing game by the publisher Chaosium and their licensees. Hawkmoon has also been so treated, as has Corum.

Stormbringer (along with creatures and artifacts from many other sources) appears as an artifact in the roguelike computer game Nethack.

References to Elric

The family name of the Fullmetal Alchemist characters Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric may be a reference to Elric of Melniboné.

The Elric character is affectionately parodied in the Cerebus the Aardvark graphic novel by Dave Sim.it:Elric di Melniboné ja:エルリック pt:Elric